Rape and murder of minor, accused arrested

Jalgaon (IANS) | A 19-year-old boy from the neighborhood raped an 8-year-old girl, killed her and threw the body in a barn. Officials gave this information on Friday.

The incident took place on July 30 and has now come to light. On Friday, hundreds of citizens took out a silent march to protest against the crime.

Taking strong note of the incident, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde called up the girl’s family and consoled them, assuring them that the guilty would not be spared.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis made a statement in the assembly this morning saying that the accused Swapnil V. Patil alias Sonya of Gondgaon village has been arrested and will be punished severely.

According to the police, on the afternoon of July 30, the girl was alone at her home when the accused lured her to a nearby shed and forced himself on her.

When the girl cried, he hit her on the head with a stone. Due to excessive bleeding, the girl died in the shed itself.

Swapnil then hid her dead body there under a pile of grass and fled from the spot. The girl’s family and neighbors desperately searched for her and later lodged a ‘missing’ complaint with the Bhadgaon police.

A few days later, some villagers complained of foul smell coming from the barn and when they searched it, they found the decomposed body of the girl there.

The victim’s parents identified her body and along with other villagers staged a sit-in demanding arrest of the culprit and strict action.

The police swung into action and finally caught Swapnil from his village on August 3 (Thursday) and the matter was raised in the assembly on Friday.

According to the police and the government, the accused has confessed to his crime. After this he was arrested.

Besides the police, the local crime branch and forensic experts have started probing the matter.